


I'll Keep the Chair On For You

by 3amepiphany



Series: Drabbles 'n Bits [10]
Category: Homestuck
Genre: F/M, artsy fartsy au, beta kids - Freeform, domestic AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-15
Updated: 2017-08-15
Packaged: 2018-12-15 19:49:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,581
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11812989
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/3amepiphany/pseuds/3amepiphany
Summary: "I want her to be happy, not to stress over a dumb decision.”“When have you known her to stress about making a choice?”He looked back at his sister, his shades glinting in the light from the porch.“This is true.”





	I'll Keep the Chair On For You

**Author's Note:**

> godheadcomplex: an au where dave and jade buy a house together because johns had it with dave bringing home trash to make “art” out of and roses had it with jade tracking mud everywhere “for science” their backyard is filled with little statues and vintage bathtubs filled with plants and they wallpaper the kitchen with cool postcards and they have a red chair hanging from the ceiling where the dining room chandelier is supposed to be
> 
> http://billetdouxnondistribue.tumblr.com/post/159606386587/genuscorvus-godheadcomplex-an-au-where-dave

Dave came home early on Saturdays, usually because he liked to stop at the community farmer’s market and help Jade pack up her stand - the tables into the bed of his truck and the remainder of the plants in the back of hers. The end of summer was coming soon enough however, and with that it usually meant less and less plants to take back home and more and more junk for him to go through and bring.

His last stop before going to the City Hall parking lot was a used bookstore that didn’t just take books, but all sorts of reusable items and media. They had called him earlier that week to let him know that they’d set aside a few boxes of junk that they knew he’d wanted - a mass of old tape and video cassettes, cds and dvds, and vinyl albums, all too far damaged to resell. Today there was also some old gaming systems, their cartridges, and some electronics, and he was more than happy to take all of this off of their hands so it wouldn’t have to go through the recycling process that cost the city more than it ought to. As he closed the gate on the bed of his truck he thanked the employee that helped him cart it all out and load it up, and gave him his business card.

Most of the market was already packing up for the day by the time he arrived in the parking lot, and he found Jade in her regular corner, her work skirts covered in paint, wax, and mud, her striped leggings peeking out from under them and stopping right over the tops over her mud caked boots. She shared her portion of the lawn with a potter and a batik artist; the potter’s husband had been more than happy to help Dave and John move some of the larger pieces out of John’s yard and transport them over to the new house with the help of his truck - in exchange Dave had paid double for the large glazed pot that had shared the ride over in the far corner of the bed, and they unloaded that at the same time - it was a giant, round thing, that had ample drainage at the bottom and a pretty iridescent sheen of glaze that he knew would be just right for an item she was looking to rehome; their actual house was nice but the greenhouse was surely lacking, space-wise. It didn’t matter much, though, there would be time to reconfigure, redesign, rebuild. It was all already taking on a very organic shape back there anyhow, and it likely would continue on that way: there was a fountain in the far corner that was waiting for a motor, made out of some pipes and scaffolding and wrapped with old power cables and stereo wire, with the spouts carefully crafted out of old power strips that no longer worked. 

She kissed him very sweetly on the cheek, and he wiped a smudge of dirt off her face before returning it.

“I sold most of the final bags of sunflower seeds,” she said, “in exchange for the last big jar of honey from the beekeepers this season.”

“Sounds like a good deal,” he said, waving hello to her remaining partner for the day, the batik artist. The lady was elbows deep in a pot of bluish violet water, wringing out an item, and she nodded back. He liked her and her work a lot. She brought over a basket full of beautiful curtains for their new home when they’d finalized the paperwork and made a party out of it. Not a single one was the same. He liked the red ones best.

Jade took him in for a hug and laughed, gazing easily into his eyes through his aviators. “You smell like dust and I’m getting ready to sneeze.”

“Yeah, I’m pretty gross. What do you say we get home, unpack, take a shower, and order a pizza?”

“I think that’s great.” They stood there holding each other for a short while more. Then he picked some grass and straw from her hair with a bit of a fuss and she laughed, pulling away and getting to work.

February had been a welcome change and as he followed her tiny little truck down the street he couldn’t help but get excited to start working on the gifts that would eventually be given to his friends. John had been kind enough to let him go as crazy as he had gotten over the last year, when he had basically covered the entire basement-turned-recording studio in epoxy and soldering flux, creating what had been an amazing shelving unit that lead to at least another four projects around the house, which in turn lead to more projects tumbling out into the tiny yard, and eventually a gallery show where hardly anything sold because people were just not sure what to make of it all yet. The reviews, at least, were stellar.

The home Jade had moved out of was comfortable enough; she had stayed with his sister Rose up until Rose couldn’t handle the consistent check-ins from the local police and fire departments, and the random few from the Center for Disease Control.

The suggestion had come casually; it was something they’d been kicking around for a while now but one that Dave had also found himself kicking a lot of rock over whenever he wanted to start the conversation. It came one night after he and Rose had secured a carpet cleaning service to come and take care the the copious amounts of mud and plant stains (and one that would at least honor the fact that Jade had several permits for all of the different chemicals she would purchase and use for her work instead of turning tail and herald another visit from the FBI and animal control). Why not get a place together?

She sat on the porch, cigarette in one hand and glass of wine in the other, and nudged him gently when he went quiet. He took a long drag of his own cigarette and nodded, and said, “I have to figure out how to ask her.”

“It isn’t like you’re getting married, you know.”

“I know, but all the same, I want it to be right and to count. It’s a big matter.“ Bec sidled up on his other side; for once the white fuzzy dog wasn’t being a hellacious attention-grubber. He looked over at Bec, and smiled. "I want her to be happy, not to stress over a dumb decision.”

“When have you known her to stress about making a choice?”

He looked back at his sister, his shades glinting in the light from the porch.

“This is true.”

And it hadn’t been much of one to her when he finally asked. They didn’t take too much time to make it happen, though they did spend a couple of weeks deliberating between a couple of different places - they both wanted a home that they could use to invite people over and entertain, but they needed the practicality of one that would allow their different interests and work to spread out and flourish.

In the end John had managed to find them a nice spot on the other end of his neighborhood, and when Dave had pulled up to find Jade nearly suffocating John with a massive hug, he didn’t even hesitate to take down the number on the realtor’s sign in the yard before getting out of his truck.

“Look at what a piece of eggshell John’s found,” she said, her eyes wet and her smile wide. “It’s perfect. He knew it was here and it’s perfect.”

“The sign just went up yesterday,” John said, readjusting his glasses and taking Dave in for a hug in greeting. “But it’s been empty for the last month, I was just waiting to see what was going to happen with it.”

The next day he and John took a walk around the property with the realtor, who more or less didn’t understand for the whole afternoon that it wouldn’t be John and Dave moving in, but Dave and Jade. Awkwardness aside, he made a call to Bro shortly after having been shown around inside the house, and before the end of the business day he had enough money to put down a partial payment, with incredibly low interest. He knew his last few favors were important ones, and Bro was willing to help out the instant Dave spoke the words “Jade and I are looking at a new place” into the phone.

After the pizza had arrived, he and Jade sat in the dining room under the lamp he’d constructed out of an old adirondack chair and some old light bulbs and christmas light strands, and that she had painted red. Ridiculous, but he liked it, and she loved it. John was always afraid it would fall. It wouldn’t.

“Do you want to take Bec for a walk after this?” she asked.

He nodded, smiling at her. She smiled back, and he knew she was being her shyly grateful self over the fact that he finally imposed upon himself the rule of not wearing his sunglasses at home when it was just the two of them. It’d only been a week and he was certain that it was a good decision.

A lot like the house.


End file.
